Away from Celtic’s domestic business and the Brendan Rodgers ‘narrative’ furore for a minute, there is one player who is seriously impressing right now who is not even at the club.
Hyeokkyu Kwon left Celtic in January to join St Mirren on loan and it is fair to say that Stephen Robinson is a huge admirer of the 22-year-old.
Impressing on his Scottish football debut, Kwon made an immediate impact in Paisley and was in instant hit with The Buddies fans.
And it seems that his stay at the smisa Stadium could be extended after what Stephen Robinson has recently said about the defensive midfielder.
Stephen Robinson wants Hyeokkyu Kwon to stay at St Mirren
The St Mirren manager is clearly a huge admirer of Kwon. His comments on the on-loan Celtic player after his part in a 3-0 win over Hibs this season prove as much.
And now Robinson has spoken out and admitted he really wants to keep Kwon for another season.
Robinson said [Daily Record], “He’s someone we’d really like to keep. We’re speaking to Celtic about it, perhaps keeping him for another season with ourselves.
“We’d be very keen to do that, but he isn’t our player and that won’t be our decision. We knew he’d have an influence, it was about getting him game-time.
“He came to the country and hasn’t played a lot. It’s getting him used to Scottish football, long throws and long balls at times that he maybe isn’t used to. The physicality of our game.
“He’s added that bit of quality and composure. It’s something we’d be very keen to get done. It’s possibly a long way off happening, but that would be in an ideal world for me.”
Kwon could become a player for Celtic
It does seem as though the South Korean has a bit about him. After five appearances in the Scottish Premiership Kwon’s stats look very impressive.
As per SofaScore, the midfielder is averaging 71 minutes per game and has a passing accuracy of 80%. He makes 2.2 tackles per game, makes 6.4 ball recoveries per match and is also helping his team’s attacking cause with 1.6 shots per game.
It’s still early in his career in Scotland but it does seem that Celtic might, just might, have unearthed a hidden gem after all.
In other news, ‘Ticked every box’… Stephen Craigan believes 23-year-old Celtic player was flawless vs Motherwell
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